Mobile devices such as smartphones provide growing number of services and optional functionalities as well as provide corresponding touchscreen-based Graphic User Interfaces (GUIs). To improve usefulness of the mobile device and meet different desires of users, various practical applications to run in the mobile devices have been developed.
The mobile device may store and run default applications installed at a manufacturing stage and optional applications downloaded on the Internet from application sales sites. Optional applications may be developed by general developers and registered in the sales websites.
As the mobile devices' functions have become more diversified, smartphones equipped with camera modules as default have been released. Many applications with various camera-related functions are also provided.
One of the camera-related functions is a panorama photography function. The panorama photography function is a shooting technique to capture a wide scene by moving the capturing device such as a camera or a mobile device from side to side or up and down. A panoramic photo resulting from panorama shooting usually has a relatively wide aspect ratio.
In panorama shooting or viewing a panoramic photo, a thumbnail image reduced from the entire panoramic photo is provided as a preview image in somewhere in the panoramic photo screen, typically on the lower side of the screen.
However, in case of providing an original panoramic image 400 with an elongated shooting angle as a thumbnail image, the thumbnail image is reduced to a size so small that its visibility is poor. This leads to low usability of the preview functionality through the thumbnail image.
Therefore, a need exists for a method of efficiently displaying a panoramic photo's thumbnail image on the screen in panorama photography mode or in viewing a panoramic photo in an electronic device with a camera module, e.g., a camera, a cell phone a smartphone, etc.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure